This month I want to share with you an incident which happened just before the holidays last year (2021). It is a touching story and I encourage you to read to the end.

I am the eldest child with two younger brothers. At my family’s request for privacy I will not use real names. The younger of my two brothers lived in Vancouver, Wa., where he worked at a cannery.

I will call him Sam. In August (2021) while at work Sam was exposed to large amounts of bleach which damaged his lungs. Then in September he developed a severe case of pneumonia which landed him in the hospital.

The doctors and staff were wonderful and we are grateful for everything they did, including keeping us updated each day on Sam’s condition. Alas, his lungs were too damaged and in early October he passed away.

My other brother and his wife, whom I will call Ramsey and Sandy, and I were in continuous communication with each other while dealing with Sam’s situation.

The day after Sam’s passing Ramsey, Sandy and I all drove the long distance to Vancouver, where we began to deal with the situation. Ramsey and I were always a good team in dealing with family situations. This made it easier to identify and divide the necessary tasks in dealing with Sam’s passing.

One of the items on my list was to find a location in which to hold Sam’s memorial service. The three of us siblings had spend much time in Vancouver as children, and I had lived there for several years as an adult. For those reasons I believed it would be easy to find a location for Sam’s service. I was severely mistaken. Finding a location in a city of 181,000 people should have been easy, not the challenging project it became.

The churches I called could not accommodate us. The two main reasons were either the facilities were already reserved or insurance coverage did not allow renting to outside groups. I then called service clubs such as the Elks and the Eagles. The local ones in Vancouver had closed their doors, permanently. The local grange, where our father had spent many happy hours, had also closed its doors for good.

In desperation I called the Memorial Gardens where we had chosen keep Sam’s remains. I had several good phone conversations with Sharon, the lady helping us make the arrangements. Apparently we were not the only group desperate to find good facilities that weekend. The coach of the boys’ soccer team called and asked if their funeral home had a room to rent for the boys’ end-of-season party.

The best Sharon and her co-workers could do for me was to rent us one room for one hour with a cost of $400. That was not a viable option.

Ramsey and I agreed we did not want to hold Sam’s service in Portland, Ore. Though Portland is only across the Columbia River from Vancouver, we knew many of Sam’s friends would be unable to attend his service in Portland. Besides, we all know how unsafe Portland has become.

The only option left was to look north of Vancouver. After many more phone calls the Nazarene church in Ridgefield said we could use their facilities. The church rented us several rooms for three hours. In addition, they provided coffee and tea, and recorded the service for us.

Cousins and friends stepped in to help with Sam’s memorial service, and did a wonderful job of honoring my ‘baby’ brother. It was good to share memories with them in a safe and relaxing environment.

Everyone is still talking about how gracious and considerate the Ridgefield Nazarene church staff was to all of us.

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Crystal Linn is a multi-published author and an award-winning poet. When not writing, or teaching workshops, she enjoys reading a good mystery, hiking, and sailing with friends and family. See crystallinn.com.